kmorg1234

We did a similar tour with RCI 2 years ago on a very small boat (only 25 of us) with a fabulous lady captain. Probably the best excursion I have ever taken on any cruise anywhere in the world. We came within one quarter mile of the very active glacier and stayed for quite a while. Saw lots of wildlife as well. Enjoy!

To be honest I was being sarcastic. The United Kingdom is very security conscious and in light of the various incidents recently I can foresee the authorities here getting even tougher as well as the regulations. SO seems to think if agreement with the cruise line is secured things will be fine, however my concern is that you might not reach Southampton. The immigration and Border Force staff at London Heathrow might send the passenger straight back with a £2000 fine to the airline for permitting boarding at the original airport. Having a letter from the cruise line at that stage is not going to be relevant.

 

You are staking $4000 or whatever on this trips success and in my opinion, knowingly being outside regulations is foolhardy. Any official of higher rank at the cruise line or the airport could refuse acceptance, in addition if you are lucky you might get an interview at Heathrow for a couple of hours. If SO is a bit stroppy in any way they may drag that interview out significantly. Have you got at least one day in UK prior to boarding? Will everyone be happy proceeding without SO? As I said, sarcastically, what could go wrong? We all learn by expensive mistakes but a wise man learns by others mistakes.

 

Hope all goes well in the end.

 

Kind Regards John

Hi Jon,

I did kind of think you were engaging in sarcasm but was not 100% sure- thanks for spelling it all out. I had not considered the personal interview scenario either- I've heard that those "parties" are not the fun kind, though! Immigration and Border Control are no joke, in my book. I take no chances with all of that business- too much to lose. Hopefully with all of these replies, he will start to come around, and will do the right thing in the end. Problem is that he has no real skin in the game- if our roles were reversed, he'd surely be hopping mad at me.

Thanks everyone for their input and all of the info!

Only took 3 weeks for regular service when we applied May 10.

Maybe SO can consider expedited passport renewal to appease you.

 

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Ummmmmm..... this was a little nasty? No need for expedited renewal as there is plenty of time for regular renewal. This is not about appeasing me; this is about possibly being denied boarding due to someone following recommendations to the T. What would you be thinking if this was your SO putting you in this position?

Why on earth anyone would be bothered about not having six months validity at the theoretical end of a cruise holiday, I do not know. The United Kingdom is one of the most relaxed countries in the world with the UK Border Force and Immigration allowing people to fly in on minimum documentation. I should not worry about Southampton it is miles from the airport. What could possibly go wrong?

 

Regards John

Is the UK really that lax? If so, then I will stop worrying about him getting over there. Hopefully the cruise ships are lax as well. What could go wrong?

You mentioned that he will have 5 months remaining when you leave, the question is will he have 6 months when you arrive? If not I would renew.

No, we are only going over for 10 days, so it will still not be a full 6 months.

SO is Significant Other. And in this particular post, DS is Dear Stubborn.... just to add a little comedic relief to this post. Sorry for the confusion, and thanks for the advice! I particularly like the "get it in writing" advice- had not considered that, but good advice. I will find a way to do it diplomatically since I don't necessarily want to add any more fuel to the fire and make him dig in his heels any harder than he is.

So we are booked on a lovely cruise on the Crown in August sailing from Southampton. We stop in several countries affected by the Schengen Agreement (though notably NOT the Netherlands, which stipulates 3 months as a requirement). This is an Agreement regarding entry into any of the 26 European countries in the Schengen area regarding short-term travel: it requires that your passport be valid for at least 3 months beyond your intended date of departure.

However, it seems that conventional wisdom and recommendations are for passports to be valid for a full 6 months beyond intended date of departure. I have no problem with this as I do not want to tempt fate and run into problems. I even renewed Son's passport 8 months early as his would have fallen into the 4 1/2 month expiration range. The problem is that my Dear (stubborn) SO's passport expires 5 months after our intended date of departure from GB. I was given an passport expiry error message when I tried to fill out the info for the Princess Boarding passes, and when I called BA to ask what their policy was about allowing flight boarding in the US to head across the pond, I was given a nebulous answer but a stern warning that boarding MAY be denied.

So (Dear Stubborn) SO calls Princess, and tells me that he has worked it out with them that they will allow him to do the paperwork at the pier, and that they will not deny boarding the cruise ship. They will even send him confirmation in writing, and have placed a note on his reservation! (His words). He says that because technically his passport is valid for longer than the required 3 months, that he is right, and they cannot deny him boarding. I guess that I am a little more pragmatic and realistic than he is, because I don't think he should chance it- he has plenty of time to renew his passport, but simply refuses to (out of righteousness, I guess?) I feel that any individual along the route can call into play the 6 month recommendation and simply say "no" because, quite frankly, they do have the power to do so (even if technically legally wrong).

Does anyone have any actual experience with this situation? This is a well-travelled group, and would just like recommendations and actual stories of what has occurred in real life situations. My plan is to try to encourage him to renew the passport, but if he continues to refuse, then I will have him prepare a notarized letter allowing me to travel out of the country with our 10 year old son, who is most excited about this trip. We'd love for (DS) SO to be with us on this trip, but I can't see us all having to stay home because of this preventable, unpredictable problem.

Sorry this is so long, and appreciate any input. TIA!

Thank you, Janet. I will most def look into this.

What state? I am adopted in Missouri in 1959. It was a closed adoption through county. My adopted parents are on my birth certificate. As a side note, Missouri just changed the law and in January I can obtain a birth certificate with my biological parents on it. There is a birth certificate somewhere.

This is most interesting! I was adopted in MO in 1963. Can you tell me more about this new law? The parents listed on my BC are my adoptive parents, but would love to know who the biological parents are to thank them.

On our Allure cruise as a Star Class Guest we paid for the shakes (Aug 2016), another cruise (Mar 2017) on Harmony we didn't pay as a Star Class guest. I believe they are getting more consistent but this is RC.;)

We sailed on Allure in a SLS last November, and everything (except don't know about Starbucks pastries- never asked for one) was included. No upcharge for bigger steaks at Chops, no charge for ice cream every day, no charge for the shakes at JRs. We tipped $500 for the 3 of us, though we did not ask for any party set-ups or other group activities. We are sailing Allure again in late July in the Owner's balcony suite (or whatever they are now calling those 2 suites next to CK these days) and will ask more of the Genie since we are celebrating a big birthday with many family members. I cannot wait! It was an amazing experience, and expect the same again next month.

I sailed Explorer of the Seas many years ago in a Junior suite with two of my best girlfriends..... Best.Trip.Ever!!!!! Plenty of space, plenty of closet room, plenty of room to get ready (read: beautiful!!!!). Also get robes, so we had to take a robe picture for fun. Have fun- I am jealous!

Friends with benefits 😱

 

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Were you guys on one of the special cruises? They are definitely fun....

We usually book a later flight when in that exact situation, but know that if we high tail it to MCO, we are able to get on the earlier flight. Obviously involves an early private pick up with walk off alone or with concierge. It seems that the earlier flights have room, and the midday flights are quite booked so they are happy to accommodate if you show up early. Anyway, that's just our strategy as change fees with AA are waived on DOS.

Travel sized duck/duct tape- never know when that will come in handy. Outlet converter- allows you to use those extra outlets in your room.

I was over there. My main issue was that I had trouble comparing ports under one thread. I was hoping maybe to narrow down the port first that would be best.

 

I've heard St. John's is great, but had difficulty getting confirmation on some things.

 

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I believe that you will have to do the research yourself for this- while any one of us would LOVE to tell you definitively which beach they would chose for each particular port, there is 1) objectivity in what type of beach you are looking for, with exactly which amenities are essential to your needs, 2) how far you are willing to travel to said beach, and 3) Price, availability, online reservations, etc

So basically, you need to do the work on your own. Yes, it takes time and effort, but so totally worth it in the end! I have never found a way to compare ports in a single thread, as you were hoping to do- I find that I have had the most success in researching each port on its own. And once you have found the beach you'd like to visit, don't forget to make a plan as to how to get there. It is all so def worth the effort!

All that being said, my fave is to,get up early to get myself over to St. John whenever possible. I have already planned on which ferry to take over based on where the cruise ship docs and at what time. Already figured out how to get back to the ship based on published ferry times.

The key is self-research and pre-planning. Keep googling until you find what you are looking for- it is out there! That way you can do exactly what you want to do, on your own timeline. Have fun, and I wish you the best time on you cruise.

It's our October cruise on Harmony' date=' currently in junior suite. They said they are short on cabins and want to be sure that guests are actually going and not just hiding cabins only to release them.[/quote']

 

My guess is that this is it- they are trying to flush out the folks just tying up the cabins. With any luck, their IT dept is coming up with an algorithm to detect the type of reservation most likely to fit this profile. :confused::(:o

Not likely, but one can fantasize!

That looks like an amazing Charter!

SIL has a child with a sperm donor. Wonder what documentation she needs? Or perhaps the birth certificate reflects this? Now I'm curious....

This is yet another reason that I am about to take my last cruise on Royal. So many other cruise lines to choose from..... And we are the ones that consistently sail in the hughest suites, with the big perks, but no longer with RCI. They do have a great product, but others are catching up and doing better. It is sad. I hope they "get it" sooner rather than later. The website is the biggest disgrace.

One word: Wonderland. Don't miss it!

I was asked just once (out of many times on a closed loop Caribbean Cruise) for the notarized letter, and was so glad I had it! Would have hated being denied boarding because I could not produce it. ALWAYS asked at the Canadian border, and my brother was denied passage because he did not have the proper documentation. So when I travel, I always make sure I can procure the proper documents, or choose a different vacation. I am simply unwilling to be caught unprepared, take the risk, and have to sacrifice the vacation because of something that I know is a real possibility. Traveled enough to know that there are enough unknowns; why tempt fate with something that you know really may happen?

Afternoon Tea is to die for!!

Where do they serve afternoon tea? We too will be first time Princess passengers in August, and are very much looking forward to it. We have sailed with Seabourn, Seadream, Royal, Celebrity, and Carnival (once!).

Please keep up with the helpful tips- they are all most appreciated. Very excited for this trip to Scandinavia, and would love any info anyone has, esp in regards to those with experience with this itinerary. Thank you very much in advance!

I have the best floating mat: It has mesh in the middle and a "blow up ring" around the whole thing. Unlike the dollar store mattresses, it blows up super quick, and it folds up and fits into a handled bag. Though it doesn't exactly get heavy use, it's over a decade old and has saved us lots of rentals.

This sounds perfect! Do you know the actual name of the product, or where you got it?

Could be worse- an elderly couple was escorted off a Seabourn ship for refusing to attend the 2nd muster during their B2B.